Irvine officials will look into drafting and filing a court document known as an amicus brief in support of a federal lawsuit challenging warrantless immigration detentions across parts of Southern California instead of seeking to join the legal challenge.

It’s an action Orange County Supervisors did not take Tuesday when they met behind closed doors to discuss whether to join the federal lawsuit.

Other Orange County elected leaders have taken a stand against the unprecedented immigration enforcement sweeps.

Elected officials in Santa Ana, Anaheim, Costa Mesa and Fullerton have either voted to join the lawsuit or are expected to consider signing onto the legal challenge.

On Tuesday afternoon, Irvine City Council members narrowly voted 4-3 in a special closed session meeting to direct staff to prepare an amicus brief in support of the legal challenge and bring it back to a future city council meeting for review.

Councilmembers James Mai, Mike Carroll and William Go were the dissenting votes.

The lawsuit, spearheaded by the ACLU on behalf of five people arrested in Los Angeles county and immigrant rights organizations, alleges federal immigration officers are racially profiling people and using excessive force to make warrantless arrests.

Department of Homeland Security officials have adamantly denied the allegations, arguing the deportation sweeps in the region have been strategically targeted.

Tuesday’s direction comes after Irvine City Councilwoman Betty Martinez Franco requested her colleagues consider joining the lawsuit at a closed door meeting on Aug.12.

Martinez Franco wrote in her request that as the state’s 13th largest city, Irvine has a responsibility to lead by example and that immigration sweeps have expanded into Irvine in the past couple of months.

“Late last month, federal agents carried out indiscriminate enforcement actions inside our city, sparking alarm among residents, business owners, and community organizations. Reports indicate that these operations have relied on unconstitutional tactics,” she wrote.

“By doing so, we are not only protecting the rights of our residents, we are affirming our responsibility to uphold the Constitution, support lawful enforcement practices, and ensure that Irvine remains a safe and welcoming community for all,” she wrote about joining the lawsuit.

To read Martinez Franco’s full memo, click here.

At their regular meeting Tuesday, a couple of MAGA supporters including Nicholas Taurus, who unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2022, spoke in favor of ICE and the deportation sweeps as well as criticized Martinez Franco.

At one point, audience members started chanting “send them back” with someone shouting out “Go Back to Mexico”  and another shouting “Betty, go home” before Mayor Larry Agran asked them not to interrupt public commenters.

Irvine officials weren’t the only ones to discuss the legal challenge on Tuesday.

Orange County Supervisors also considered behind closed doors “initiation of litigation” at their Tuesday meeting but took no reportable action.

In a text message Tuesday, Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento said the item had to do with the ACLU lawsuit challenging the deportation sweeps – something he asked his colleagues to consider joining.

“I asked the county to join the community organizations and cities supporting the plaintiffs in this case, either by joining the lawsuit or by submitting a brief in support of the relief sought by the plaintiffs. That request was not granted and no action was taken,” Sarmiento said at the end of Tuesday’s supervisor meeting.

“Though this litigation is focused on the immigrant communities in our region, our participation as a county is needed to protect the due process rights of all residents who can be targeted for their skin color or because they speak English with an accent, without regard to their status in the country.”

“I am disappointed by this outcome,” Sarmiento added.

The rest of the supervisors did not comment on the decision at the meeting.

“It’s beyond disappointing the Board couldn’t agree to join such a slam dunk case in support of civil liberties and basic democracy,” said Jonathan Paik, executive director of OC Action, in a statement.

“We appreciate Supervisor Sarmiento’s tireless efforts on behalf of immigrant communities, and urge the Board to just look at what’s happening in our streets and put our community’s safety first.”

Claudia Perez, Executive Director of Resilience OC, was critical of inaction by supervisors.

“We have seen across all corners of the county how neighbors have been showing up for each other because they recognize these raids are nothing short of inhumane and an erosion of all our rights,” Perez said in a statement. 

“The Board’s inaction is demonstrating a dangerous willingness to let our rights be stripped away from us, leaving our communities to fend for themselves.”

Earlier this month, federal appellate court judges upheld a district court decision in the lawsuit to temporarily halt immigration enforcement agents from making warrantless arrests in parts of Southern California solely based on race, language, occupation and locations like car washes and Home Depots.

[Read: 9th Circuit Judges Uphold Block on Southern California ICE Sweeps]

The temporary halt went into effect last month and covers the U.S. Central District of California, which includes the counties of Orange County, Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino and Riverside.

Officials in both Anaheim and Santa Ana – the county’s only sanctuary city – also voted last month to join the ACLU’s lawsuit against the ICE raids after the restraining order went into effect.

[Read: Orange County’s Largest Cities Take a Stand Against ICE Sweeps]

More Orange County cities could soon look to join the legal challenge as well.

Last week, Costa Mesa city council members voted to bring back a discussion on joining a lawsuit against the deportation sweeps at the request of Mayor John Stephens.

[Read: Costa Mesa Donates $100K for Immigration Aid; Explores Joining Lawsuit Against ICE Sweeps]

In Fullerton, Councilwoman Shana Charles, with support from Councilman Ahmad Zahra, has also called on her colleagues to consider joining the ACLU lawsuit.

“I really think that there’s strength in numbers and it matters,” Charles told the Voice of OC last week.

“From my perspective, I would love to see all 34 cities in Orange County join together, but at the very least, the largest cities coming together is really important.”

Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.